Quote:
Originally Posted by moulyn58
...I was hoping to find a small/medium city with comfort. A great art community wouldn't hurt either. Maybe north of Denver? Jobs of course are always an issue, good neighborhoods. ...
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Loveland and Estes Park (less jobs, but in the midst of scenery) was home for 25 yrs, I wouldn't hesitate to return to either, just that they are much more 'urbanized' now. (expensive and traffic, for a kid that grew up in the previous 'cherry orchards' (there was not a home west of the lake when I showed up, except a few farms, and stuff along SR 34) Check out the Loveland Arts Scene by search;
http://www.sculptureinthepark.org/about_us.html (#13, #80 and #10, are so real you can almost step up and have a conversation, but all are great in their own way)
[img=http://thumb3.webshots.net/s/thumb3/5/58/78/130155878llIRrv_th.jpg]
the August festival is terrific, but to think you can roam through a park (and city) with all this great art everyday of the year (that is pretty nice) It is in a 'banana belt' too, I rode my bike to work nearly everyday, often taking the route up over Carter Lake to get an extra 30 miles of exercise on a beautiful early morning. The Big Thompson Canyon (to Estes Park) is now great to bicycle, rebuilt road with wide shoulders (at the expense of 100+ lost lives in the flash flood of '76)
http://www.loveland.org/community/
go visit, and be sure to take a walk around the lake! Take time to enjoy the art and the people. (Valentine's Day is a nice time to go, but the grass will be brown
)
People (ole timers) are pretty friendly, plenty of recreation and a nice community center / library / swimming (with art, and park...) Good services and decent economy (variety of work) kinda spendy for homes, and the 'front range brown cloud' can creep up that far north.
You can be in Ft Collins or Greeley in ~20 min. (both are adjacent college towns) for culture, though there is variety available, less than 1 hr to Boulder for the ultimate in 'culture' diversity
good schools, fire dept
, and community support.
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